If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Hybrid View

Ray Edwards released

Falcons released LE Ray Edwards.

Atlanta signed Edwards to a five-year, $27.5 million deal before the 2011 season after he recorded 16.5 sacks for the Vikings in the 2009-10 seasons. He was replaced in the starting lineup after the Week 7 bye. Edwards recorded just nine tackles and zero sacks in nine games this season after notching just 3.5 sacks in 2011. The Falcons will employ a rotation led by Kroy Biermann. Edwards should be able to find work on a much lighter contract.

You know, I’m sick to death of hearing how Ray Edwards benefited from the guys he played with in Minnesota. The scenario painted out is that opposing teams were so occupied with the Williams Wall and Jared Allen that Edwards could moonwalk his way to the quarterback untouched.

Simply because, you know, those guys were double-teamed on every play. Sometimes even triple-teamed.

Only here’s the great thing. That’s not actually the case. There’s some chipping going on and the occasional double-team, but that happens on both sides of the line. A more legitimate argument to be made is that Edwards went up against right tackles who are weaker in pass protection. Why make a logical argument when you can make a baseless one off a few examples of the eye?

To do that might mean having to accept the facts that Edwards actual beat a lot of tackles to pick up a lot of pressure, and he did so while becoming one of the leagues’s better run defending ends. Lets take a look at his Pass Rushing Productivity rankings for the past four years.

Year Pass Rushes QB Disruptions PRP Rank

2009 493 65 10.3 5th

2010 396 67 13.3 2nd

2011 404 33 6.4 32nd

2012 93 4 3.2 60th

Look at that level of productivity. Was that all down to the talent around him? And then why did it change in Atlanta? I mean the Falcons still had guys like John Abraham (fourth in PRP in 2011) and Jonathan Babineaux (fifth in PRP of DTs in 2011) to work alongside.

Where Did It Go Wrong?

Obviously though, there’s a clear disparity between how Edwards performed for Minnesota and what he did on the field for Atlanta, and that contributed to his release. There are a number of theories that are floating around, but one that holds particular weight with me is that the Falcons didn’t use him correctly. Here’s a guy who in his final year in Minnesota spent 98.1% of his plays rushing from a defensive left end position.

In his first year in Atlanta that number was 60.2%, and the difference was evident in Edwards’s ability to generate pressure. When he was lined up as a defensive left end he picked up a pressure on 9.5% of pass rushes. When he rushed from the right side he picked up a pressure on 5.4% of plays. A huge difference and indicative of Edwards’s struggle. The Falcons designed their pass rush around Abraham getting pressure, and in doing so put Edwards in situations he was neither used to, comfortable with or productive in. They wanted Charles Johnson and when they couldn’t get him they got the next best thing and assumed they could use him the way they would Johnson.

The experiment failed, and that one has to be on the Atlanta scouting department and the urge to spend some money in free agency. Still, Edwards himself hasn’t been as productive. He has to take a large part of that blame because he’s been in enough favorable positions, and in enough one-on-one matchups, to get more pressure than he has. His work in run defense hasn’t suffered but the -12.4 grade we’ve given him for his pass rushing is a far cry from the +33.4 he managed in his last two years in Minnesota.

Time for my dude Sidbury to step up and show the nfl he can be a monster in the pass rush. Maybe this move is the kick in the a*s that will get turner to run the damn ball. Wouldnt surprises me in the least that if turner doesnt start to produce more yards on the ground cause hes next on the cutting block to get released. I would love to see Quizz get more chances to run the ball between the tackles, he know how to find the holes in the defence.